Introduction

The Zeiss Distagon T* 25mm f/2.8 is a moderate ultra wide-angle lens available in Nikon- (ZF) and Pentax- (ZK) mount. To date the lens has not been released as a ZE version. According to the rumor mill it has been already been discontinued in order to improve the design so it's also unlikely that we'll ever see a Canon variant. However, we're currently having some Zeiss days here at PZ at the moment and with the Nikon version at hand we thought it was worth to have a brief look at its performance characteristic nonetheless. Obviously we had to use the ZF version via adapter (manual focus, working aperture).

The build quality of the full-metal Zeiss (brass with chromium-plated brass front bayonet) is superb. The fluted focus ring feels exceptionally well damped. The physical length changes (extends) when focusing towards close distances. The supplied metal hood doesn't seem to be overly efficient due to its plain barrel shape. However, Zeiss Z lenses are comparatively flare resistant.